Why does BMW love floor-mounted throttle pedals so much?

[ELVA164]

I've thought about this a few times before and never really came up with a great answer, so I thought I'd see if someone else has one. There isn't a huge difference in the performance of a hanging pedal vs. a floor-mounted one I suppose, except perhaps in feel and/or geometry through the pedal's sweep, but a floor-mounted pedal does bring a couple unfortunate side-effects like rust at the mounting location. Interestingly, BMW has used the same basic design since the 2002. Some thoughts I had were possibly cost and/or packaging, but those are just guesses. Any ideas?

[ForcedFirebird]

I prefer them over a hanging pedal, plus BMW has always been spot on for the placement for heel-toe. Every BMW I have ever driven has the same exact pedal feel and has similar wheel distance (or able to move there). Just put an LS1 in a Mercedes w210 and mimicked (for the most part) and e30 pedal setup using the Camaro pedal box which has a hanging accelerator, not nearly as comfortable/fluid heel toe.

[roguetoaster]

Think about the relative angles of motion if you wanted the vertical angles of a floor hinged pedal in a top mounted one. Seems to me that the top mounted one would be likely to interfere with the floor pan before achieving the amount of travel most MFRs like to have.

This seems directly related to difficult heel toe angles FF wrote about above.

[AwakenNoMore]

I've honestly never been too happy with the floor mounted gas pedal. I find this car much less intuitive to heel-toe than my RX-7's where (both FC and FD) with their hanging gas pedal. I have to more toe-toe instead of heel-toe if that makes sense.

[ForcedFirebird]

^^^Yes, rolling the foot is the most efficient "heel toe" IMO. I use the ball of my right to modulate brake, then roll my small toe over to the accelerator whenever possible. Makes me feel awkward moving the heel over, but do it when needed.

[TobyB]

...because your ankle is floor- hinged?

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[LJ851]

The best bmws have all the pedals floor hinged.

[agent]

When the accelerator pedal is top-hinged, the ball of your foot will slide on it as your foot articulates down and the pedal articulates up and back. So obviously it's to minimize the potential for wear spots on the pedal and/or your shoes.

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

Because it moves as your ankle does? Idk I like it though

[Northern]

^^^Yes, rolling the foot is the most efficient "heel toe" IMO. I use the ball of my right to modulate brake, then roll my small toe over to the accelerator whenever possible.

Exactly. Feels so much more natural.

[squidmaster]

The new civics (by new I mean 2006+) have floor mounted pedals too. Personally I enjoy it, although it does take a little getting used to.

[Fsnow]

If it ain't broke don't fix it, It just works so well

[nrubenstein]

Because you can't get your foot jammed under it.

[bangn]

ergonomics, more comfortable than having your foot in the air. It can rest on the floor

The bit that has always pissed me off is its hard as a mother fucker to get a vacuum in and around the base of it. I basically have to blow all the sand out with an air gun on my E90

[ELVA164]

Some very thought-provoking responses, thanks guys. I've personally always preferred the feel of a hanging pedal and hadn't run into the issues mentioned, but I can see how those could occur.